The Pirate Party (Dutch: Piratenpartij, PPNL) is a political party in the Netherlands, formed in 2006 but not officially registered until 10 March 2010.[1] The party is based on the model of the Swedish Pirate Party.

The party purposefully limits itself to a limited number of positions. It wants to curb Dutch copyright law(where it wants non-commercial use to be free), to remodel patent law, to protect and strengthen (digital) civil rights, a transparent government and a considerate handling of IT-projects by the government.[2][3] Its Declaration of Principles says that its purpose is "to change global legislation to facilitate the emerging information society, which is characterized by diversity and openness. We do this by requiring an increased level of respect for the citizens and their right to privacy, as well as reforms to copyright and patent law." [4]

The party is member of Pirate Parties International (PPI). International cooperation through the PPI is seen as crucial to realising the goals of the party.[5] The positions of the party are based on the Pirate Party Declaration of Principles.[6]

On 12 July 2012, the candidate list for the parliamentary elections was announced. The Party leader, Dirk Poot, who two years earlier was 4th place on the list is first on the list, with former leader, Samir Allioui, coming last on the list.[10] The party achieved 0.3%, over 30,000 votes, almost tripling their vote from the last election but failing to meet their target of entering parliament. They also became the largest party not to be represented in parliament.